title: Total diesel exhaust particulate length measurements using a modified household smoke alarm ionization chamber.
abstract: To evaluate the effectiveness of various means to combat the negative health effects of ultrafine particles emitted by internal combustion engines, a reliable, low-cost instrument for dynamic measurements of the exhaust emissions of ultrafine particulate matter (PM) is needed. In this study, an ordinary ionization-type building smoke detector was modified to serve as a measuring ionization chamber and utilized for dynamic measurements of PM emissions from diesel engines. When used with diluted exhaust, the readings show an excellent correlation with total particulate length. The instrument worked well with raw and diluted exhaust and with varying emission levels and is well suitable for on-board use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vehicles and Engines, School of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Liberec, Czech Republic. michal.vojtisek@tul.cz
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vojtisek-Lom
mesh_terms: D000390:Air Ionization; D056804:Biofuels; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D010938:Plant Oils; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D052638:Particulate Matter; D010938:Plant Oils; D001335:Vehicle Emissions